But Then You Would Win
by DoTheHippogriff
Summary: Romance, the Hogwarts Tournament, and the next generation! Rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

"Des!" Andi yelled, rushing towards her friend, her electric blue hair flicking behind her

"Hi Andi!" her friend greeted her with a bear hug

"How was summer with Superbitch?"

"I survived, put it that way. I'm looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts though" Des grinned

"Looking forward to seeing Roxy?" she asked teasingly

"Yeah" Des was trying (and failing) to keep his blush under control. Andi was the only one who knew about the crush Des had nursed for Roxanne Weasley since third year. "Oh, by the way, James was asking after you"

"What did you say to him?"

"Told him to go shove it, you would never go out with him" he chuckled as they high-fived.

"You go find Roxy, Fred and Toni, I'll find the others, and meet in a compartment in 10 minutes" Andi ordered, before darting off into the crowd. Exactly ten minutes later, Des, Toni, Roxanne, and her brother Fred were filing into the compartment Andi had got for them. The nine of them, Andi, Des, Toni, Rowan, Roxanne, Fred, Greyson, Scarlet, and Gracie, just about squeezed into the padded benches.

"I've got some good news" Gracie grinned

"Spill!" Toni ordered

"Look what came in the post with my Hogwarts letter" she indicated the glittering yellow badge on her chest. "I'm a Hufflepuff Prefect!"

"Well congratulations, Gracie" James smiled from the doorway. Oh for Merlin's sake, Andi thought, as James squeezed in between her and Des.

"Thank you, Potter, but I hope you know that now I'm a prefect, your pranking days are over"

"I'd like to see you try, Axon." James smirked proudly, before turning to Andi "Meda! How was your summer, love?"

"For the last time, it's Andi, and my summer was fine, thanks. You know why? You weren't there" she retorted coldly

"A dagger in my heart! Why does my love despise me so?" he pretended to faint, and she couldn't help but let out a small grin "Did you get my letters?"

"Yes, did you get my replies?"

"Yes, but I knew you were lying"

"What did she reply?" Roxanne whispered to Toni, Andi's best friend

"She threatened to magically castrate him" Toni giggled. James had been asking her out almost every day for the past year, and every time she said no.

"But you'll go to the ball with me"

"Potter, I'm not going to the Welcome Ball with you"

"Oh no, love, it wasn't a question, it was a statement" he grinned "You see, you've already agreed"

"What?"

"Andi, don't you remember?" Gracie asked between giggles

Five Months Earlier

"Have you done the potions essay yet? It's due in for tomorrow" Fred asked from his seat on the sofa

"Nah ol' Sluggy won't mind" James replied

"James, you've done that for the past four essays, Slughorn won't let you off every time"

"Yeah he will, Meda, I'm James Freakin' Potter, he practically has to"

"Bet he won't"

"How much are you willing to bet?"

"If he does let you off, I will attend next year's Welcome Ball with you" she bargained

"Agreed" they shook hands, a wide grin on James' face.

Andi swore loudly, before warning him sharply "Fine, Potter, I will go to the ball with you, but know that if you try anything funny I will hex you into oblivion"

"See you at the ball, Meda!" James called over his shoulder

Andi huffed indignantly as she sat down, but Rowan, seeing her displeasure decided to change the subject "So what are we all doing about the Welcome Ball? None of us have dates yet"

"Well, if Tone goes with me, Rowan goes with Greyson and Des goes with Rox, then that's six of us out of the way" Fred suggested, at which there was a nods

"I'm going with Julian Richards" Scarlet told them

"He's a Slytherin!" Roxanne almost yelled

"He's a nice guy, if you'd actually bother getting to know him!" Scarlet retorted, giving Roxanne one of her famous death stares. A weaker girl than Roxanne Weasley would have crumbled under the intense force of Scarlet's piercing blue eyes, but instead she just sulked in the corner, shooting dirty looks at Scarlet every so often. The others all chatted about their summers for hours, until they realised that they would arrive at Hogwarts soon, when Greyson conjured a curtain so as they could change for the Welcome Ball. Andi wore a one-shouldered indigo dress that hugged at her tiny waist and flowed towards the floor, Scarlet wore a simple strapless silver and red dress, Rowan wore a backless black and gold dress with ruffles on the skirt, Toni wore a strappy crimson dress, Gracie wore a tortoise-shell green knee-length dress, Roxanne wore a muted orange thigh length dress, and the boys all wore traditional tuxedos. A few minutes after they had changed, the train rolled into Hogsmeade Station, Andi took a deep breath and stepped into the carriage.

"Meda, can I just say you look simply beautiful tonight" he handed her a violet wrist corsage, and offered her his arm. "Not that you don't look beautiful every day but-"

"Shut it James"

"You called me James."

"Slip of the tongue, Potter. Trust me it won't happen again"

"If you say so, love" he grinned, as he took her to the dance floor. The tradition for 21 years had dictated that the Welcome Ball would start with a waltz, and a few other formal dances, before playing popular songs. James took Andi's waist and led her gracefully around the floor, but Andi was too busy doing her best to avoid his hazel eyes than enjoying the dancing. They danced together for the entire evening, as was their agreement, and even when the slow music began to play towards the end of the night, they continued to dance. At midnight, when the final song finished and only a few couples remained on the floor, Andi walked briskly away from James, towards the Gryffindor dormitory where she knew a warm bed would await her, but James followed her every step of the way.

"Goodnight, James" Andi dismissed him exasperatedly, wishing only to get to her bed

"Goodnight, Meda. I had a really good night. Maybe we should do it again sometime" he grinned back

"Maybe" she smiled, before pecking him softly on the lips. Suddenly, James moved his hands to the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her cobalt hair, and prolonging their kiss, whilst Andi froze, utterly bemused. The kiss was filled with a warmth Andi had never felt before, a warmth that filled her entire body with contentment and happiness, and she loved it. She inhaled and James' scent, an intoxicating mixture of vanilla and sandalwood, but a minute later James pulled away, and began to make his way up the dormitory stairs.

"James!" she called after him

"Yes, love?"

"That's not fair James!" she had to stop herself from stomping her foot on the floor

"How so?"

"Because…because…James, why did you stop?" she asked, with an almost undetectable hint of desperation, but James merely winked back, saying "Because then, love, you would win"

**A/N: Don't shoot me! Okay I uploaded without editing too much, and not waiting for my beta, but please forgive me! If there are any mistakes, please tell me, and I'll probably change the whole chapter when my lovely beta has finished her amazing work! Read, review, remain awesome!**


	2. Chapter 2

"So he just kissed you? Really?" Rowan sat cross-legged on her bed as she interrogated Andi about what happened the night before.

"Yup" she replied, as she combed her blue hair frantically, but nobody knew how much effort was going into keeping her hair electric blue, and her eyes stormy grey. The night before she had dreamt of their kiss, and when she had woken in the early hours of the morning with hazel eyes and short jet black hair, the exact shade of James'. She had sat in front of the mirror for hours trying to change her hair colour, until eventually after three hours, her efforts were rewarded. Now, she, Rowan, Toni, Roxanne, and Hayley were all getting changed into their Gryffindor uniforms, ready for their first day back.

"Ro, I'm worried. I sort of liked it" she added in a hushed tone

"He's worn you down" Rowan grinned "But enough chat, McGonagall's making an announcement this morning, and we don't want to miss it" she added, leaving Andi with a thousand questions racing through her mind. Why had she liked the kiss? Had James meant it? Why did he kiss her? Was she just another of his many conquests? Deciding that she must forget about the kiss, Andi waited for Rowan and Toni, before leaving for breakfast. She received a letter from Mindy, her house elf and adopted mother, asking if she had arrived safely and sending a few extra quills, just in case one of hers broke. A few minutes later, Rowan, Toni, and Andi were joined by Hayley, Greyson, Fred and James, and at the top table, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Students!" she silenced them with a single word "Welcome back to Hogwarts for another fine year of education. This year, there will be some changes, as this year, Hogwarts shall be holding the brand new Hogwarts Tournament!" At this there were mutters and gasps, but McGonagall continued "There will be one team to represent each house, made up of three boys and three girls, decided by the Goblet of Fire. The tournament shall contain…dangerous tasks, so the task shall only be open to fifth years and above. There shall be three rounds in each task, one round for the fifth years, one for the sixth years, and one for the seventh years"

"Oh, sweet Merlin" Andi whispered

Toni swore loudly, but James brushed it off "I bet the tournament would be easy anyway"

"Don't be an idiot James, this is serious!" Greyson chastised him sharply from across the table "McGonagall said it was dangerous!"

"Chill out, Grey, it's likely none of us will even get chosen, and if we do, we'll just help whoever it is out" Cat Delaney told him, before lowering her voice and saying "Meeting in the Room of Requirement at lunchtime, don't worry about getting food for lunch, Jenna and Brendan are handling it" Greyson quickly passed the message around the group, and before they knew it, lunchtime had rolled around.

* * *

><p>"Guys this is a really big problem" Toni began nervously. Usually, Toni Carroll was anything but timid, but at a time like this, Toni was seriously worried: any of them could be chosen, and if they were, they could quite easily die.<p>

"We know that Toni" Greyson snapped. Since the announcement, Greyson had been unexplainably volatile.

"What's up with you, Grey?" Cat asked from across the room

"There's three boys and three girls in each team, and there's three Gryffindor fifth year boys. Me, Fred and James don't have a choice about this, we're the only candidates."

"There's only two Hufflepuff male fifth years. What are we going to do?" Dustin asked, his eyes filled with fear

"We'll talk to Sprout or McGonagall" Gracie soothed him "We just called this meeting to make sure that everyone knows that whoever is chosen will have the support of everyone in Hufflepuff. Well, the fifth years at least."

"And all those in Ravenclaw will support all four champions as well" Brendan agreed

"Same with Gryffindor" Greyson added

"What about Slytherin?" Scarlet piped up from the corner

"What about Slytherin?" Roxanne replied venomously. "Those back-stabbing toads won't support us and even if they do agree to help us, they'll just backstab us in the end"

"What have you got against Slytherins, Roxy?"

"Apart from the fact that they're all greasy slime balls, I have absolutely nothing against them" Roxanne spat. Roxanne and Scarlet had been best friends since first year, but over the summer they had been arguing over the tiniest things.

"We'll talk to some of the more…civil Slytherins, then see if they agree with our idea. Maybe Karliah, Julian, possibly Jory Paisley" Cat, ever the peacemaker, calmed the two friends who looked as though they were about to rip each other apart. In their first year, Roxanne, Scarlet and Cat had become best friends, despite their contrasting personalities: Roxanne was audacious, brash and mischievous; Scarlet was ethereal, mysterious, and kind; and Cat was modest, studious and quiet.

"When the champions get chosen, each one should sign an agreement to not do anything crazy or anything, and we'll try appealing to the Slytherin champion. If not, then we'll figure out what we do next." Des suggested to nods and murmurs of assent "Then it's agreed, we _will_ talk to the Slytherins, and try to negotiate an agreement." he finished in an uncharacteristically sombre tone.

"Students! It is time for the teams to be announced! The Gryffindor team is…"

**A/N: And this is where it's up to you! There is a poll on my page, where you can vote for whoever you want to be in the teams for each house. I'm not nominating every character, but most will be up there. If there are either no votes or a draw, I'll choose at random. Please, please, please vote! **


	3. POLLS

**A/N: Voting wise, I can only put up one poll at a time so I'm holding the Slytherin polls until 2nd January, then Ravenclaw polls until 4th January, then Gryffindor until 6th January. Please vote!**


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